any good substrates to use with UTH

[latazyo]

well, I attempted to put up an enclosure for my leopard gecko, however I used sand (beginner mistake) now I am wishing to switch it to something that is actually safe, but can still be used with my UTH

thanks in advance

and if there's nothing besides sand that can be used...are there any small herps that can be kept in an enclosure bedded with sand?

[ChristinaM]

Indoor/outdoor carpet would work :) Anything you use, you will have to monitor your temps and add or remove layers as nessecary.

[mykee]

I would personally recommend newspaper, printed or unprinted. Ease of cleaning, convenience, cheap. It works for all my racks. I use it exclusively now.

[Linds]

I keep my leos on paper towel. If you don't like the glaring sterile lab look....lol... you can use blue shop towels ;) Another option is to go with slate tiles. Looks much more natural than papertowels and works just as well. Since leos ingest whatever they are on, IMHO it's best to avoid loose substrates.

[latazyo]

well I went to home depot and they didn't have any way of cutting the slate or ceramic tiles for me, so I bought vinyl ones

I'm planning on putting about 1/4-1/2 inch of sand UNDER the tiles, this way the tiles won't get too hot and the lizard can't eat the sand

I hope this will work

[Big Mike]

It is much better to control the heat electrically than trying to do it with layers of stuff. Just get a plug-in lamp dimmer (rheostat) and use that to control the UTH. You could even get a thermostat that will measure and control the UTH.

The best place for the UTH is...under the tank. Not inside, if that is what you were thinking. If you can avoid dealing with sand in the enclosure...it will be better off. I like the tile idea, let us know how it turns out.

[latazyo]

my only concern is the heat melting or burning the vinyl tiles or the paper on teh back of them, do you think that will be a problem?

[Big Mike]

If it was hot enough to melt anything...the animals would most likely be long dead.

But this is why controlling the heater is better than covering it with stuff. If the heater it self only gets to 80 or 90 then it will not melt anything...that is not even as hot as most people's tap water.

Just plug in the UTH and measure the temperature of it (after a few hours to warm up). Put the UTH in place under the enclosure and measure the temperature right on the floor of the enclosure. If it is too hot, then you should get a control device.